In 2002, in concert with a Sci Fi Channel initiative to pursue federal UFO records
through the Freedom of Information Act, President Clinton’s former chief of staff
made a move that was astonishing for its candor.

Citing Clinton’s landmark Executive Order 12958, which led to the declassification
of hundreds of millions of government documents on unrelated matters, Podesta
declared “it’s time to open the books . . . on the question of government
investigations of UFOs.” He added, “We ought to do it because it’s the law.” This,
at a time when President Bush was — and continues to be — engaged in information
blackout mode via blizzards of signing statements and executive orders.

At the time, a skeptical Wired magazine noted that Sci Fi, which was about to unveil
its Steven Spielberg abduction series called “Taken,” was also a client of of the
PodestaMattoon PR firm, run by Podesta’s brother Anthony. Wired suspected the
ex-Clinton aide’s advocacy was little more than a ratings stunt. And, in fact,
“Taken” went on to become the most popular mini-series in Sci Fi’s history.

Today, John Podesta is president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a
liberal Washington think tank partially bankrolled by billionaire philanthropist
George Soros. But he hasn’t revisited the UFO issue since, and De Void’s efforts to
contact Podesta have been unsuccessful.

Washington lobbyist Stephen Bassett isn’t as cynical as Wired. The only political
activist committed exclusively to ending the U.S. embargo on classified UFO data,
Bassett interprets Podesta’s silence as backstage maneuvering.

“If the Democrats retake the White House, Podesta will probably be a part of it,
especially if it’s Clinton,” says Bassett. “My view is, they’re planning disclosure
under the next administration. So there’s no point in rustling that bush now, not at
this point.”

On Sept. 14-16, Bassett’s political action committee is sponsoring an “X-Conference”
in Gaithersburg, Md., to advance the case for disclosure hearings on Capitol Hill.
Details are at http://www.x-ppac.org/

With Gov. Richardson's campaign having backed away from the UFO issue, De Void
continues to await a response from Sen. Hillary Clinton.